Summary
- The number of cases around the globe has passed 9 million with a worldwide death toll now over 490,000.
- Victoria continues to grapple with how to trace and slow ongoing new cases in several different suburbs
- Australia has had over 7500 cases and 104 deaths.
- The states are divided on whether to make new arrivals take compulsory COVID-19 tests
- UK looks to make up for botched start to pandemic
Wear face masks on public transport and while shopping, experts say
By Melissa Cunningham
Victorian authorities should strongly urge people to wear face masks on public transport and at other busy public spaces to slow the spread of coronavirus, experts say.
As Victoria grappled with its 10th consecutive day of double-digit rises in the number of infections, Burnet Institute epidemiologist Professor Michael Toole said new research had proven the case for masks.
“The effectiveness of masks reducing transmission is now really clear,” Professor Toole said.
“If you look at all coronavirus hotspots in Victoria, they are all in fairly low-income areas where I imagine many people would be using public transport, so I wonder, what to do we really have to lose by not mandating face masks?”
Professor Toole said a global review of the effectiveness of face masks published in The Lancet medical journal this month found wearing a face mask could reduce the risk of infection by 85 per cent, though the researchers noted there remained higher amount of uncertainty on mask wearing than physical distancing.
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Students call for shorter classes, less work in post-COVID classrooms
By Anna Prytz
Reduced workloads, more flexible class times and shorter school days are being suggested as students ask for a greater say in their education following coronavirus lockdown.
Catholic Ladies' College in Eltham has already adjusted bell times, workload and assessment schedules after students relayed the benefits they'd felt while learning remotely.
Catholic Ladies College students Evangeline Hurrel and Kirra Johnston.Credit:Justin McManus
"The new bell times came out of girls needing time to get up and move and take a stretch break," Georgia Heffernan, one of the school's deputy principals, said.
"So we've maintained it; the school system is so fast and your day goes from bell to bell, it's really about slowing down, giving them that little extra time between classes.
"Our girls have really appreciated it."
Judo Bank's Joseph Healy warns on 'zombie firms'
By Clancy Yeates
Judo Bank co-founder Joseph Healy has warned small and medium businesses are taking on $25 billion in unproductive debt to survive the pandemic, leaving some operators vulnerable to future collapse while others become "zombie" firms.
As banks keep thousands of businesses on life support during the recession by extending cheap credit, Mr Healy said the increase in liabilities, including rent that is owed to landlords, will have serious long-term economic impacts.
Joseph Healy (left) with his fellow Judo Bank co-founder and David Hornery. Credit:Cole Bennetts
Mr Healy, a former head of business banking at National Australia Bank, said the unplanned extra borrowing will reduce some firms to "zombie" companies - those that only survive because credit is so cheap.
“Definitely it will create zombie firms but there are also firms that are not quite zombies, but surviving simply to pay debt and not able to really grow,” Mr Healy said.
He made the warning as business-focused Judo revealed new analysis it has produced on a predicted increase in "economic debt" accrued in the pandemic - including new loans, deferred interest payments and deferred rent and other payments.
'Very confusing': Health experts split over face masks on planes
By Josh Dye
Public health experts are divided on whether plane passengers should wear face masks on board, with all three Australian airlines adopting a different policy on the matter.
Qantas and Virgin are increasing flight schedules as thousands of passengers take to the skies ahead of the school holidays. Both airlines supply passengers with optional masks, while Regional Express forces passengers to wear them. Australian government health advice remains that masks are optional.
After months of warnings to remain physically distanced from strangers, the spectre of full flights results can be a confronting contradiction. Despite restaurants, trains and workplaces adhering to the four-square-metre rule, commercial flights remain full as airlines fill middle seats to ensure flying remains financially viable.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing says cabin air gets circulated and cleaned every two to three minutes. Air enters the cabin above each passenger and flows down vertically before evacuating the plane via ducts at passengers' feet.
The air entering the cabin is a mixture of fresh outside air and recycled air. High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters clean the recycled air, with Boeing claiming 99.9 per cent of bacteria and viruses are removed.
Victoria's tourist hotspots to check visitors' temperatures over holidays
By Michael Fowler
Regional tourism operators will check the temperatures of guests on arrival and turn away anyone showing coronavirus symptoms as they plead for Melburnians to act responsibly amid the city's spike in COVID-19 cases.
The Victorian government says it will provide 4800 thermometers to councils across the Great Ocean Road, Alps and High Country regions, while COVID-19 testing clinics will be set up at Lorne, Apollo Bay, Falls Creek, Mount Hotham and Mount Buller.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has his temperature checked before touring the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Thursday.Credit:AAP
The government has encouraged businesses to turn back any visitors displaying coronavirus symptoms and to contact guests 24 hours before arrival to ask them to complete a self-assessment for symptoms.
Tourism Minister Martin Pakula backed Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton's advice that only Victorians who are unwell should avoid travelling within the state, even if they live in one of Melbourne's six local government areas identified as coronavirus "hotspots".
"Victorians are looking forward to a well-earned break and tourism operators need every bit of support we can provide to them, but public health has to remain our top priority," Mr Pakula said.
Aussie NBA player Ryan Broekhoff joins Ben Simmons in Philly
Australian sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff is joining Ben Simmons and Brett Brown at the Philadelphia 76ers for their run at the NBA championship.
The 76ers needed to bolster their three-point shooting before the season resumes next month in Orlando.
Broekhoff has been in free agent limbo since the Dallas Mavericks waived him in February and the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown the season.
Rallying for relief: Mavericks guard Ryan Broekhoff, left, Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (25) and former 76ers forward Jonah Bolden, right, encourage fans to donate to an Australian bushfire charity fund, prior to their NBA game in Dallas in January.Credit:AP
The Melbourne-born forward was one of the best pure shooters on the free agent market ahead of the season re-start.
Brown, coach of the 76ers and Australian men's Olympics team, is no stranger to the outside threat Broekhoff presents to opposition teams.
The inconsistent 76ers have missed the three-point shooting JJ Redick, who joined the New Orleans Pelicans last year, provided in past seasons.
The NBA announced its schedule and many other details around its season resumption in a hub at Disney World in Orlando.
Finally, play will resume in a season that started with political strife between the NBA and China in October, the deaths of David Stern and Kobe Bryant in January, a pandemic breaking out in March and racial issues surrounding police brutality and other forms of inequality dividing the country once again during much of the league’s shutdown.
“There’s no question this season and frankly this year has been one which none of us will soon forget,” NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said.
“Obviously, the virus came at us hard without any prior warning and then we were faced with the prospect of losing the season.”
But with a plan for strict medical protocols agreed upon, the league and its players believe it is safe to resume.
Players will start arriving at the Disney complex on July 7, will be tested daily once they get there, and could be away from their families for more than three months. Families aren’t expected to be permitted on-site at Disney until the start of the second round of the playoffs, set to begin in late August or early September.
“Everyone is making some type of sacrifice,” Miami Heat forward Andre Iguodala said.
“A lot of people in America don’t have jobs right now, and we have the opportunity to be a beacon of light, not just for that one particular thing but the social injustices. We’re going to shed light on that, people being away from their families, understanding that sacrifice ... the greater good of everything that our players stand for, including the game of basketball.”
AAP, AP
What life during COVID-19 has looked like, according to kids
By Sophie Aubrey
From the carefully selected demure colours to the blank facial expression, 14-year-old Juliette Bourne sees more than just her face staring back at her when she looks at her self-portrait. To her, the work is a reflection of the strange time that has been COVID-19.
“To someone viewing the artwork, they might think it’s just a portrait that doesn’t show much… but with my process that I took, it reflects a lot of my life in quarantine.”
Juliette Bourne, 14, with her lockdown self-portrait.Credit:Simon Schluter
The keen artist says she deliberately took a photo of herself that felt more monotone and picked simple colours for the oil painting, which involved five layers over 10 hours.
“I wanted all the pieces to go together and not be too extravagant, which relates back to quarantine being nothing to be excited for.”
Wear face masks on public transport and while shopping, experts say
By Melissa Cunningham
Victorian authorities should strongly urge people to wear face masks on public transport and at other busy public spaces to slow the spread of coronavirus, experts say.
As Victoria grappled with its 10th consecutive day of double-digit rises in the number of infections, Burnet Institute epidemiologist Professor Michael Toole said new research had proven the case for masks.
“The effectiveness of masks reducing transmission is now really clear,” Professor Toole said.
“If you look at all coronavirus hotspots in Victoria, they are all in fairly low-income areas where I imagine many people would be using public transport, so I wonder, what to do we really have to lose by not mandating face masks?”
Professor Toole said a global review of the effectiveness of face masks published in The Lancet medical journal this month found wearing a face mask could reduce the risk of infection by 85 per cent, though the researchers noted there remained higher amount of uncertainty on mask wearing than physical distancing.
'Tumultuous': The seismic change hidden in Tehan's plans for unis
By Jordan Baker
Year 12 student Elsie Gillezeau woke up last Friday to find out that the cost of her dream degree, a bachelor of arts in politics and international relations, had climbed by $23,000 overnight.
Joseph Haynes, 19, learned his gap year had been an unexpectedly expensive one; deferring arts/law until 2021 would cost him $32,000 in extra fees, but his friends studying science would pay less than they planned.
Neither intends to change course, and while Gillezeau is angry - "it's really harsh, particularly in the current climate" - Haynes is philosophical. "We've got to get kids into STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths]," he says. "We have too many lawyers."
That same morning, students planning to become teachers, nurses and engineers learned their degrees would become cheaper under a federal government plan to use reduced subject contributions to encourage the future workforce into high-demand fields as the economy falters.
Big hikes in student fees that could be a disincentive to study some degrees, particularly the humanities, dominated the headlines. But buried in the fine print was another story - one that, if the package passes parliament, will trigger fundamental changes in the way universities teach and research, and will have profound implications for students, institutions and the country.
How Harry Potter helped save Australia's arts industry
By Nick Miller
At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, with box offices shut, actors and crews stood down and the arts and entertainment industry bleeding emergency reserves dry, leading Australian stage producer Michael Cassel gave the performance of his career.
He gave Arts Minister Paul Fletcher a crash course in how to put on a show.
Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts Paul Fletcher.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"We had a long conversation," Fletcher recalled on Friday.
Cassel took Fletcher through the economics of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cassel's hit show currently on hiatus: the box office, the salary demands, the costs – and the benefits in tourism spinoffs, restaurant income, hotel rooms.
"He talked about the number of people who worked on the show," Fletcher said.
"And then he talked about the challenge of the decision that he was going to face at some point, as to whether to restart the show."
After a botched start, UK may be about to make new mistakes
By Bevan Shields
London: Not even Boris Johnson's trademark bluff and bluster can hide the grim truths about the scale of Britain's coronavirus crisis.
Far more people have now died during the pandemic than were killed in the Blitz. Hitler's Luftwaffe bombers snuffed out 43,000 civilian lives in an eight-month campaign which still haunts the country.
The official COVID-19 death toll stood at a near-identical 43,230 on Thursday, however, "excess death" records suggest the true number of victims over the past four months is likely 65,000.
Thousands are still testing positive each week. And roughly 150 are dying from the virus every day. On a per-capita basis, more people have died in the United Kingdom than nearly anywhere else in the world.
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2020-06-27 00:44:00Z
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